Lifestyle practices and menopause-related symptoms among women in rural communities of Ado-Ekiti local government area, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective Lifestyle modification is consistently recommended for healthy living during menopause; nonetheless, there is paucity of data on menopausal experiences and lifestyle practices of women in rural communities of Nigeria. This study assessed the lifestyle practices of menopausal women, their experiences of menopause-related symptoms and the influence of lifestyle practices on their experiences of menopause-related symptoms. Method A descriptive cross-sectional design was used in this study. Systematic random sampling was used to select 271 menopausal women at household level in rural communities of Ado-Ekiti Local Government Area in Ekiti State, Nigeria. A self-developed structured questionnaire was used to assess lifestyle practices while modified menopause rating scale was used to assess menopausal-related symptoms of the women. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS version 22 at 0.05 level of significance. Results Findings revealed that 58.3% had poor lifestyle, while 41.0% and 0.7% had moderate and good lifestyle, respectively. Findings showed that 66.4% of the women experienced moderate menopause-related symptoms, while 15.5% and 0.4% of the women had severe and very severe menopause-related symptoms respectively. Result of the multiple regression indicated that Exercise (β = 0.22, t = 3.63, p = .01), Nutrition (β = 0.13, t = 2.23, p = .02) and Substance use (β = 0.04, t = 2.25, p = .02) were major predictors of menopause-related symptoms. Conclusion The study concluded that positive lifestyle modification could help reduce menopausal-related symptoms.

Determinants of Sexual Health Status of Menopausal Women in Osun State, Nigeria

“…Further findings showed that about three-quarters of the women still experience painful sexual intercourse. This is comparable to previous studies that reported pain as one of the most common problems among menopausal women [ 19 30 31 ] and another study that reported that about two-thirds of their study participants experienced pain during sexual intercourse [ 32 ]. This, however, goes contrary to the findings in a study where very few of their respondents (17.1%) reported experiencing pain during sexual intercourse [ 33 ].…”

“…The purpose of this study was to assess the sexual health status and its determinants among menopausal women. The respondent’s mean age at menopause in this study is comparable to other previous studies [ 19 20 ]. The sexual history shows that the majority of the respondents experienced natural menopause, which is similar to a study where it was found that the majority of the women experienced natural menopause [ 21 ].…”

Assessment of Relationship between Lifestyle Behaviors and Severity of Perimenopausal Symptoms among Women

“…According to the results of the current study, the severity of perimenopausal symptoms and women's lifestyle behaviors are strongly negatively correlated. Concerning perimenopausal symptoms, this research stated that more than one third of perimenopausal women reported moderate severity of perimenopausal symptoms, as has been seen in the study of Olowokere et al (2021). But these outcomes were in opposition to Farahat, El Esergy, and El Shopaky's (2019) research that demonstrated that severe perimenopausal symptoms were present in over fifty percent of the subjects.…”

Development and validation of comprehensive evaluation tool for weight management at menopausal transition and early menopause stage

“…Self-developed surveys are multidimensional and quick to administer, but lack validity and reliability. [ 6 ] In order to produce valid and reliable data, studies administered lists of validated questionnaires such as Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 to measure distress, Body Shape Questionnaire to measure body image issues, and Woman's Health Questionnaire for menopausal quality of life. [ 33 34 ] Often these questionnaires are administered in combination with recall methods such as 24-h recall and Global Physical Activity Assessment Questionnaire for assessing dietary and activity status.…”

“…[ 4 5 ] Few studies have used self-developed questionnaires for preliminary assessment only, as they suffer from fundamental limitations like lack of validity and reliability. [ 6 ] Other valid and reliable methods such as comprehensive lists of valid questionnaires and recall methods are resource-intensive, time-consuming, and complex to interpret in a resource-constrained clinical setting. [ 7 8 ] We aimed to develop and validate an easy-to-administer comprehensive evaluation tool to assess women-centric risk factors for weight gain, weight-related perceptions, and practices of middle-aged women.…”